®Perspectives from translation program graduates

® Translation technology comes full circle

® How to choose a translation vendor

® Adaptation in translation

TRANSLATION CORE FOCUS April/May 2012

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Perspectives from

translation program graduates

Nancy A. Locke

TTen years. It seems like yesterday. And yet

ten years ago, the world was still reeling from the devastating one-two punch of the tech bub-ble implosion and the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. Both events had a chilling effect on the economy. The language industry did not escape the global slow down as companies reassessed their globalization strategies, axed important projects and choked off important revenue to a nascent industry with already thin margins. Some language services providers took a direct hit. Most spectacularly, Lernout & Hauspie, once a language industry superstar, crashed and burned in October 2001. Many other companies struggled to keep afloat, and major players such as Bowne Global disappeared. Optimism was at an all-time low; layoffs and rumors of layoffs cast a dreary pall over the industry.

In Canada, however, where federal language policy plays a key role in creating the demand for language services, a quiet campaign to put the language industry on the map finally started to show results. Bureaucracy-bound, the campaign moved at glacier speed. The upside of glaciers? They’re hard to stop once they get moving.

So, despite the dreary economic context, in 2002, Canada proudly announced the creation of one of the first master’s programs in localization, offered at Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), and an innovative undergraduate localization

certificate created under the aegis of the translation program and offered by the continuing education faculty at Université de Montréal (UdeM). In 2003, for the first time ever, the federal government recognized the importance of the language services by allocating funds for the creation of an industry association.

The excitement of those years has since evaporated. In 2007, UdeM summarily decided to yank the localization certificate program. The master’s program at UQO has been mothballed.

Fast forward to 2012, when the students who enrolled in the new programs have long since left school and joined the work force. As the former director and instructor in the now-defunct localization certificate program at UdeM, I had the pleasure of meeting many of these translation students cum pioneers. Recently, some of them generously offered to share their experiences as students and as professionals — food for thought for current and future translation students destined for careers in the language industry.

A career in translation was not Sébastien Adhikari’s first choice. Naturally curious and attracted by the sciences, he imag-ined a future in engineering. But this is a highly competitive field, and the polytechnic passed on his application. Disappointed but undaunted, he considered a degree in mathematics, but the idea of spending years writing proofs to then wind up in academia didn’t appeal to him. Of the programs still open for enrollment, the baccalaureate in translation caught his attention.

The first thing he learned? A career in translation was ideally suited to his curious nature and his innate linguistic aptitude. He graduated with a BA in Translation (technical concentration) in 1994 and landed a series of in-house positions in the insur-ance and financial services fields.

In 2004, his career at a plateau, he was anxious to “move to the next level.” He let his curiosity guide him to a presentation on localization offered at the annual meeting of OTTIAQ, the professional order of translators in Quebec. Sold! He enthusias-tically enrolled in UdeM’s certificate program.

Unfortunately, the exciting career possibilities suggested by the certificate program, in particular the introduction to inter-nationalization taught by Pierre Cadieux, proved to be largely theoretical. Adhikari expected to find more job opportunities in localization and even internationalization. In his experience, he says, Canadian companies are still dragging their feet about adopting such processes.

Nancy A. Locke is a writer and

translator living in Montreal.

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Recently, again sensing that he had reached another plateau, Adhikari left the security of in-house positions to go free-lance. Despite certain disappointments, he seems very optimistic about the future and anxious to tackle the challenges of a solopreneur in the language industry. “I think it’s a pretty vigorous field,” he said but, laughing, admitted, “I don’t have any empirical evidence for that!”

Like Adhikari, André Jodoin had a decided scientific bent. He enrolled at the polytechnic but decided that it wasn’t really for him. Unsure what direction to take, he enrolled in a certificate program in arts and sciences at UdeM, then a second in electronic business solutions at L’Université du Québec à Montréal, a program more in line with his interests. A simple plan began to emerge: complete a third certificate to receive a cumulative baccalaureate. His mother, France Jodoin, who at the age of 52 completed her bac-calaureate in translation, led him to con-sider the localization certificate program at UdeM. “She saw a bright future for this field and understood that combining lan-guages and IT would interest me.” Turns out, Mom was right! Jodoin quickly made an impression on one instructor, Mourad Amine, an engineering line manager at SDL, who took Jodoin under his wing and secured an internship for him at the Montreal office of SDL. The internship turned into a two-year stint at the com-pany as a computer-aided translation (CAT) technician, a position that included providing training on SDLX. Jodoin cur-rently works at GAT as the CAT/desktop publishing team lead.

While Jodoin believed that his bac-calaureate would demonstrate a mar-ketable versatility, he doubted that he would have much luck finding work in his chosen field. “I had the impression that there were very few agencies that

needed or had the money to hire a full-time CAT expert,” he wrote in an e-mail. “This autumn, I was approached three times on LinkedIn. My perspective has changed. The translation world is in con-stant evolution, and to stay competitive and profitable, agencies have no choice but to use translation tools.”

Caroline St-Onge always had a flair for languages, but as an administrative assistant, she wasn’t exploiting her tal-ents fully. At 26, she decided to go back to school and make better use of her strengths. She completed the certificate programs I and II in translation at UdeM in 2007. Her first job as a language professional was in copyediting. Her employer quickly recognized her skills, and in less than a year, St-Onge was entrusted with translation. Although she imagined working freelance eventually, she felt confident enough to make the leap much faster than anticipated. In 2010, she launched Verbophile, a micro-enterprise that offers revision and adap-tation as well as translation services, and has never looked back.

“I’m really fulfilled by this new profession,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I earn a very good living and appreciate the multiple aspects of my work: proj-ect management, translation in itself, accounting and business development. I find validation in the fact that my results are directly proportional to my efforts.”

St-Onge attributes her success to two factors. First, she praised the course content at UdeM even if she would like to have seen an internship added as a requirement. Secondly, she stresses the importance of an in-house experience under the tutelage of a seasoned reviser. For St-Onge, embarking on a career in translation “was the best decision I ever made.” In the future, she hopes to become a mentor within her professional order.

As a student, Maude Doucet, a con-firmed linguaphile, discovered that she also had a strong interest in and aptitude for the IT side of the translation process. Having completed her baccalaureate in translation in 2004 at UdeM, she enrolled in the localization certificate program to further explore this new IT-related field. To fulfill the requirements, she sought an internship by literally going door to door visiting local translation agencies that advertised localization services. She was stunned to discover some of them were a tad fuzzy on what localization actu-ally entailed. Finally, she knocked on the door at Traductions Serge Bélair Inc. (TRSB) and found Michele Lamarche, a seasoned localization professional and a supportive and skilled mentor. At first a little reticent to take on an intern, TRSB took a chance on Doucet. Lamarche made sure that Doucet gained the nec-essary experience to stay on full-time. At first, Doucet split her time between translation and CAT/localization tasks, but she eventually concentrated full-time on the latter.

Doucet admits that her university studies gave her the confidence to pur-sue a career in translation; however, the degree program did not prepare her for actually doing the job. Her experience at TRSB provided the key complement to her formal studies. After more than six years as a localization and CAT technician at TRSB, Doucet accepted a promotion to team lead, a challenge that she relishes even if it’s a little scary. Although she has nothing to compare it to, she enjoys her work, her team and the company, and has enjoyed participating in a multitude of changes at TRSB. She regrets a little that her work is not more multilingual — TRSB specializes in Canada’s official languages — and that there is more CAT than localization to do. That said, she is

André Jodoin Caroline St-Onge Fabien CôtéSébastien Adhikari Yasmina Ait Ali

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pleased to have significantly deepened her understanding of CAT tools, and she hasn’t let her education in localization lapse. In 2008, Doucet earned certifica-tion as a localization professional from The Localization Institute.

Alexandre Bujold also works at TRSB; however, he arrived there by a more cir-cuitous path. Armed with a baccalaureate (a major in political science and a minor in arts and sciences) from UdeM, Bujold realized that finding a job might be a challenge. Linguistically agile, he thought translation would be a more “concrete” way to apply his studies. He enrolled in the translation certificate I at UdeM with the intention of pursuing a master’s. The free-dom of a freelance career tempted him, but life had other plans. In 2006, he accepted a job at Lionbridge as a project manager.

Like several of the students interviewed, Bujold discovered that while he loved lan-guages and translation, his strengths lay elsewhere. “I’m not a great translator,” he said, “but I know if a translation is good.” He enjoys variety in his work, the innate diversity of project management and pitch-ing in on revision and desktop publishing if necessary. After a little over three years at Lionbridge, Bujold left to join the team at AD-COM, a much smaller, diversified language provider, then five months ago took a position at TRSB. Although he is by nature optimistic, the “mcdonald-ization” (commoditization) of language services concerns Bujold. Not only does the trend threaten the pricing structure for services, he said, but quality also suffers.

Translation is a second career for Fabien Côté. First a programmer, then a sales professional in the IT sector, he wea-ried of battling the innate conservatism of big organizations. He wanted more independence, more control over his pro-fessional life. In 2004, Côté enrolled in the undergraduate translation program at UdeM, where he discovered the brave new world of localization, and simultaneously pursued a freelance career as a translator. Even before he graduated in 2009, the freelance life had lost its appeal, and he was looking for new challenges.

In 2008, he founded his own trans-lation company, Trans-IT Translations, Inc. Understanding the importance of clear positioning and with a solid back-ground in the field, Côté chose to spe-cialize in the language service demands of the IT sector. Trans-IT also garners a fair amount of business from the

federal government. The company has weathered the economic downturn and is now well-positioned for expansion. During our interview, the smell of fresh paint hung in the air as construction was underway to enlarge the office space.

As a freelancer and now business owner and employer, Côté places a high premium on formal university education in translation, professional accreditation and continuous professional development. He described the curriculum at UdeM as “not perfect but very good.” Since so many translators are freelancers, he believes that small business management would be a useful addition to the curriculum. He stresses the importance of the professional order for translators and the necessity to continually sharpen their skills.

Raised in Algeria, Yasmina Ait Ali is not only a linguaphile but an impressive poly-glot. She speaks Berber, French, Arabic, English and Spanish. For her, translation was an obvious career choice. In 2009, she graduated with a baccalaureate in transla-tion from UdeM. After graduation, Ait Ali moved to Gatineau and worked freelance for two months while seeking full-time employment. In 2010, she accepted a position at The Masha Krupp Translation Group Ltd. and nine months later joined the staff at Fox Translations Ltd.

As a student, Ait Ali dreamed of trav-eling widely to discover new cultures, interpreting or teaching languages in poor communities, writing books, work-ing for international organizations and working freelance. To date, her profes-sional experiences have fallen somewhat short of her dreams. “I thought that translation was a pleasure, a pleasure to discover and help others discover by

transmitting content in a language they understand,” she wrote. “The profes-sional reality: translation is assembly line work.” She decries the intense pres-sure to produce volume, not only for translators but also for revisers whose role she doesn’t always appreciate.

She feels that her studies did not adequately prepare her for the real world of work, admitting that no academic program alone can create a professional. That said, the participation of a wide range of language professionals invited to share their experiences in the profes-sional realities course did open her eyes to the possibilities in the translation field. Still, for Ait Ali, it’s on the job every day that you really learn.

Despite some disappointment, Ait Ali describes herself as “a born trans-lator” and believes in the value of the translation profession. She also remains optimistic about the future. Ait Ali plans to launch her own language services company very soon and is preparing for accreditation by the professional order.

Older, wiser but still committed to their choice to work in the language industry, my former students seemed to agree on the importance of a formal university education even with all its flaws. Naturally curious, they all value opportunities to grow in their careers and recognize the value of continuous profes-sional development through participation in professional orders or associations, as well as the role played by mentors. Finally, despite a sluggish economy and some of the negative aspects inherent in the field, all of them seem to be satisfied with their career choices and optimistic about the future. M

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Translation technology

comes full circle

Jost Zetzsche

II’m a historian by training who writes about the

latest trends in translation technology. Some may see this combination as worldview schizophrenia, a perspective caught between the past and the future. I prefer to describe it like this: I study the past to gain a better understanding of the present and, hopefully, a better handle on the future.

With that in mind, allow me to give an overview of the short history of translation technology, especially the kind we find in computer-aided translation (CAT) or translation environment tools (TEnTs). We’ll then look at what’s happening presently and take a brave glance into the future.

In the 1950s and 1960s, translation technology was syn-onymous with machine translation (MT) or, more accurately, the idea of what MT would be able to do “in five years.” As it became apparent that this five-year prediction was an ever-moving target, funding dried up and only a handful of aca-demic and commercial attempts soldiered on.

Instead, attention turned to terminology in the form of dictionary applications and terminology tools. The first stand-alone terminology tool for the PC, called MTX, was launched in 1985 using a precursor to today’s terminology exchange TBX format. Terminology management continued to develop (Trados’ first commercial application was MultiTerm in 1990) as another technology received increasing attention from develop-ers. Various developers were beginning to use a low-level form of MT called translation memory (TM), and they all released the first version of their products around 1992: STAR released STAR Transit, IBM launched its Translation Manager, TRADOS

introduced the Workbench product and Atril offered the first Windows-based commercial product, Déjà Vu, in 1993.

The stakeholders in the translation industry reacted to these releases in various ways that had a tremendous impact on the further development of the tools and their placement: transla-tors largely rejected the new technology. Some language service providers (LSPs) used it as a competitive differentiator. The vast majority of translation buyers simply didn’t even take notice — with the exception of the terminology components that were of interest to their terminologists.

The result? With the exception of Déjà Vu, the price of these early tools was so high that they were virtually unobtainable by translators. The tools’ project concept was structured to match the needs of LSPs, and the terminology components were devel-oped into high-powered applications with the needs of large corporations in mind. The following years produced next to no development of translation features, except the support of more languages with the advent and support of Unicode.

In the meantime, Déjà Vu and some newer tools, including Wordfast, had been targeting the freelance translator market relatively successfully, paving the way for other tool vendors to offer less expensive translator versions. In addition, the old busi-ness model of LSPs financing the expensive Trados or Transit translator licenses proved to be unsustainable. As a result, the use of CAT tools in some form or another became the rule rather than the exception, both in the freelance community and among LSPs. And more sophisticated customers were starting to expect differentiated pricing on the basis of TM leverage.

At the same time, a number of new players entered the mar-ket. Since translation buyers had become aware that there could be substantial savings by using technology, companies such as Uniscape, and later Idiom and GlobalSight, began offering large translation management systems (TMSs) that were first grandly called globalization management systems. Only later were they more aptly and humbly dubbed TMSs.

These large systems provided the workflow automation and transparency that translation buyers were looking for. Interest-ingly, the roles were suddenly reversed. The LSP was increas-ingly ceding control of the process — and to some degree the pricing — to the translation buyer. Naturally, at some point

Jost Zetzsche, MultiLingual editorial board mem-ber, is a translator and translation technology con-sultant. He is the coauthor of Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World, to be released in October and already available for preorder on Amazon.

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technology vendors also started to offer TMSs for LSPs, especially Trados/SDL (which had swallowed both Uniscape and Idiom), Across, memoQ and others.

And the actual translation technology? It stayed virtually the same throughout. Minor improvements were made with context-sensitive matching and some improved quality assurance processes, but the underpinnings of the foundational TM and termbase modules remained where they had been a decade earlier.

Then, soon after the turn of the cen-tury, something reawakened that many had written off as a productivity tool for the translation industry: MT. Three things prompted this resurrection. First, the events of 9/11 and its aftermath highlighted the desperate need for automated translation and opened subsequent government fund-ing. Second, statistical machine translation (SMT) was “discovered” as a possibility to create MT engines relatively quickly for a large variety of languages. Thirdly and maybe most importantly, the concept of quality was replaced with usability — a more user-driven and much more variable concept of what the translated text needed to look like.

Many different MT applications have emerged in the last few years, from raw output of a trained MT engine for knowl-edge bases, to post-editing MT output in various degrees, to the increasingly specialized training of MT engines. But MT’s most surprising effect may have been the transformation of CAT tools’ stale translation features.

The most obvious change was the addition of tool-internal connectors to online translation tools such as Google Translate or Microsoft’s Bing Translator, or other commercial and open-source machine translation systems. Virtually all tool vendors quickly implemented these. The logic behind the reunification of these long-parted siblings of MT and TM goes something like this: if no match in the TM is found, propose a match from an MT engine that then will have to be edited like a fuzzy match. There’s nothing too exciting in that, but in combination with the next development, something truly new was created — hold that thought for a second.

The value of TMs was also re-examined. With the increasing necessity to feed data to SMT engines, the need to subsegment existing TMs became a primary concern. This was especially

voiced and championed by TAUS. With the exception of a small number of tools, most importantly MultiTrans, existing technology only gave manual access to data below the level of a complete seg-ment, typically a sentence, even though it had long been obvious that below the sentence is where the true linguistic trea-sure of TMs was buried.

Responding to the increased pressure of their user groups, most tool vendors have now started to dig deeper and give translators materials at their fingertips that had always been there, just not in an accessible way. It’s fascinating to watch this evolution. While many of the earlier paradigms of finding whole-segment matches and using a separate terminol-ogy database as a reference were virtually uniform across the different technology solutions, the subsegmenting approaches are almost as varied as the number of tools supporting them. Because we are still in the infancy of these develop-ments, even more creative approaches will likely be put forward.

One sign for how new and disruptive this concept of subsegmenting is can be seen in the fact that most tools have not yet completely grasped that this new approach to data brings forth two major paradigm shifts. First, the newly required quality con-trol of TMs needs to become much more sophisticated. The old model of garbage-in/

garbage-out has been replaced with gar-bage-in/every-little-piece-of-litter-in-the-garbage-on-the-carpet out, which asks for much more in-depth pruning and control of TMs. Second, the concept of terminol-ogy has shifted, with terminology now automatically being extracted from TMs. While the specialized termbase applications of most TEnTs will not just go away, their usage and design will have to adapt to the new reality.

Let’s return now to the introduction of MT output into the TEnT workflow. In combination with subsegmenting, MT will now start to play a significantly much greater role in the normal, non-MT-centric project. MT will provide those subsegments that cannot be unearthed from the TM. Depending on the quality of the underlying MT engine, this has the potential to give an immediate boost to translation productivity, with MT as one tool of many in the translator’s TEnT.

Translation technology is poised to come full circle. MT is about to return as a productivity tool. And those tools that started out as translation tools but lost their true calling are reembracing their identity. In the process, they’ve rediscov-ered their formerly evil sibling: MT.

Will they live happily ever after? Only time will tell. But as a historian and a futurist, I’m watching the story unfold with rapt attention. M

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How to choose

a translation vendor

Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo

TThe thought of purchasing a new product or

service can seem overwhelming at times. I know that when I need a high-quality product, I tend to research the item or service I’m looking to buy for some time before I buy it. Note that “high-quality product” doesn’t necessarily equate to “expensive.” For first-time car buyers, for exam-ple, the process of researching efficiency and safety, test driving and closing the deal can be stressful. There are so many people involved and things can seem unsure for a while before a deal is finally reached, but finding the right car that fits your needs and taste is the goal.

In this way, first-time translation buyers are a little like first-time car buyers. If you don’t know much about languages, there can be a sense of uncertainty at first about what dialect of a language is needed or how much is a good price for a transla-tion project — but if you can find a high-quality, professional agency, then the process can actually be quite smooth.

Here are some tips for choosing a translation vendor. The majority of the tips are based on the idea of selecting a transla-tion agency; however, some clients prefer to stick with individual freelancers. This is often a personal choice, but the process is quite similar. An agency will most likely provide multiple services and quality assurance (QA) processes that many individuals do not have set in place, so take this into consideration when deciding what will work best for you. These tips are meant to guide you

through the selection process, although there may be more steps to the process or fewer, depending on your translation needs.

Tip 1: Remember that translation is a service provided by professionals who should produce a professional (read: qual-ity) product. Choosing someone who is bilingual to translate your documents is not enough! It may seem like an easy solu-tion to a language access need to simply call your coworker’s cousin who “speaks fluent Spanish” to translate your company’s marketing brochure, but what are this individual’s qualifica-tions? What level of education in the foreign language does she or he have? Does she or he have knowledge of industry-specific terminology? Remember, what’s easy is not always what’s best. The American Translators Association publishes a brochure called “Translation: Getting it Right” in which Chris Durban states, “Bilingualism on its own is not a guarantee of written fluency or skill in translation.” Durban points out that translators are good writers and are able to transmit ideas from one language to another — a skill not possessed by all who are bilingual. I’ll take this a step further and note that most transla-tors specialize in certain areas, as they feel more comfortable with their skills in transmitting the words from one language to another in their own fields of study. For example, a Japanese translator who works with automotive texts may not feel com-fortable translating a document from English to Japanese that is chock-full of medical jargon.

Tip 2: Figure out your translation needs. First, determine exactly what you need. Do you only need to have a brochure translated, or will you also need to have your company website translated in the future? In thinking about what you need, do think ahead to the future. However, don’t let an agency talk you into translating materials that you truly don’t need to have translated. Remember, you are the client. You may not need the website translated until a year from now because you need to change some text or add some information. Go ahead and let the agency know you are interested, but that you wish to wait to begin the site’s translation. This way, the agency (or indi-vidual) can start creating a glossary or translation memory (TM) for your projects and save it for your next translation need.

Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo, the owner and CEO of Accessible Translation Solutions, holds an MA from the University of Louisville. In October 2011, she was elected to be the administrator of the Medical Division of the American Translators Association.

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Who is the ideal reader of the bro-chure and/or website? What language does this group speak? What dialect? These are all important questions to ask yourself before looking for the perfect translation vendor for you. I always find it interesting when I ask potential clients what dialect of a language they need for a translation and, many times, they’re unsure. Just as you would educate your-self about your English-speaking target audience, do the same with any other target audience. This can only work in your favor. Imagine picking up a bro-chure or coming across a website that is written in a variety of English that you feel to be awkward to your ears (or eyes, in this case). Would you finish reading it? Choosing the correct dialect of a lan-guage for your target audience is a key first step, and it is one that any vendor you approach should request.

Another point to consider is how flexible you need the translation vendor to be. Will you need the translation back tomorrow? In three days? Next week, next month? This is important informa-tion to give any vendor before starting a project. Make sure to set these terms

beforehand so that you don’t have to wait two weeks for a translation that might have been done in three days.

Tip 3: Decide what kind of vendor

might fit your needs. Is it important to you to choose a local vendor? Do you prefer to work with an individual, a small business or a large corporation? No matter what your preferences, all of these options work a little differently, so consider this before you start the project. Many clients choose local companies to handle transla-tion jobs, as they feel a sense of comfort in knowing that they can meet with the owner, project managers and in-house linguists fairly easily. Some prefer to use the services of a large company instead, while others prefer individual freelancers. Whatever you choose, find out what pro-cesses the vendor has in place and what kind of quality you should expect — there is more on this under Tip 6.

Tip 4: Research a few vendors before

you select one if you’re feeling unsure.

Think about how you would find out more about a service or product that is new to you. Most people these days would do an internet search. Besides simple word of mouth, this is probably the fastest way

to get basic information quickly. Search for translation vendors and read about the company’s mission, values, success stories and so on. Does this vendor have accreditation by the Better Business Bureau or another accrediting agency? Look for details that prove the vendor’s dedication and professionalism.

Does the vendor have a blog? If so, this is a great way to see what the com-pany or individual thinks about industry-specific and sometimes other topics. Here is where you will be able to determine if the vendor seems knowledgeable. As the vendor is in the industry of connect-ing through language, the way the blog is written can often be a window into the quality of services you will receive. By this, I mean that if you find multiple typos, misspellings, errors and so on within the blog or on the vendor’s site, you may want to rethink contacting the individual or agency. Remember these words from Durban: “Professional trans-lators are writers, producing texts that read well in the target language.” I can’t tell you how many times I have read an e-mail, newsletter or a blog post by a translation vendor and found numerous

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Contact Crestec Europe today because whatever your needs are, we have the solution for you!

Crestec Europe B.V.Amsterdam, The Netherlands

sales@crestec.nl • www.crestec.eu

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Core Focus

| MultiLingual April/May 2012 editor@multilingual.com54

grammatical errors. To me, this is appall-ing for two reasons. The most obvious one is that we are in the business of words and language. If the vendor can-not proofread something before pub-lishing it, what can you expect when it comes to how it will handle your texts?

Our faces are not just how we portray ourselves in person, but also how we portray ourselves in writing. I have not met all my clients in person, as I have many from other states and countries; however, if I were to write an e-mail full of grammatical errors, I wouldn’t expect them to respond to me. At the very least, I couldn’t expect to earn their business. So, expect excellence in writing, even in simple exchanges or online posts. Yes, we all have a day where we make typos or errors, but one might be wary of repeat offenders.

In the same vein, ask if the vendor is involved in industry-related events and organizations. Does it have any certifica-tions or special affiliations? These may seem like little extras that a vendor could or could not have, but showing involve-ment in industry-specific associations demonstrates a sense of dedication to the field that not all vendors possess. Look at the groups or organizations in which the vendor participates. Does it hold a spe-cific office or is it involved with commit-tees or area-specific groups? If so, this reveals leadership and commitment, as well as professionalism. If you choose to have an individual translate your text(s), find out if she or he has any certifica-tions or specialized degrees in the field. If you prefer an agency, ask how it vets linguists and what it requires of them.

Tip 5: Discuss your needs. Once you have decided on a vendor (or two or so) that you feel might fit your needs, ask to set up a meeting or phone call to discuss the specifics of your potential translation. Be sure to have the information ready on what language(s) you will need as the final translation, what type(s) of transla-tion (technical, marketing and so on), the immediacy of the translation (your proposed deadline) and be prepared to inquire about any other services the ven-dor might offer that would complement the translation. More on complementary services is under Tip 9.

When speaking with the vendor, be open to new suggestions or processes that you might have overlooked. Some-times there are details one might not

have considered before taking the steps to purchase a service that could add value to the final product.

Tip 6: Ask about processes in place

that ensure quality. When meeting with the vendor (or several vendors if you’re comparing prices), it is perfectly fine to ask about the agency’s or indi-vidual’s niche areas or specializations. Not all vendors prefer to handle legal documents. Some may not specialize in medical texts, so having a set of medi-cal charts translated via this vendor may not be the best option. However, small companies and larger corporations typi-cally have the means of handling vari-ous specializations and can place your projects with the appropriate linguists. Nonetheless, you will find peace of mind in asking and knowing the answer to this question.

Another tip that falls under QA is one that I find many clients do not request. Ask for samples of translations, refer-ences or testimonials. If you wish to hire someone for a new position, you would probably check references. If you hire a translation vendor, you can request ref-erences, or at the very least, you can read testimonials from the vendor’s previous clients. Also, if you’ve checked to see if the vendor is accredited by the Better Business Bureau or another accrediting agency, you might find this information without even having to ask for it.

The next point I’d like to make is one with which many translation buyers tend to be unfamiliar. However, it is a good way to find out what kind of software or programs the vendor utilizes in order to maintain consistency and quality in mul-tiple translations from the same client and/or clients in similar industries. When speaking with the vendor to discuss your needs, ask about what computer-aided translation tools it uses for translation projects. Some vendors do not use any, while most professionals have a preferred tool or a variety of them. These tools help to provide a quicker turnover on future translations and can sometimes save you money, as the vendor will utilize a TM created from similar texts that have already been translated. So, it is always smart to ask about them, and in doing so, you’ll show the vendor you know a thing or two about the process.

Tip 7: Now let the vendor ask you

the questions. Another imperative step in selecting a translation vendor is to

let the vendor ask you questions, too. A vital question that should come from any vendor you might choose is about the purpose of the translation. So many companies and freelancers can be quick to snatch up a project without asking questions about whether or not the text will be used for publication, for a website, for readers of various dialects and so on. This is always an important detail and one shouldn’t assume the answer to this question is obvious. Providing a vendor with more than enough information is definitely a safer approach, and it’s one that will ensure the best outcome for your translation project. So, if it seems like the vendor has a lot of questions, this is probably a good thing!

Tip 8: Find out payment details

before the project begins. One of the first things you might consider in selecting a vendor for your translation project is the price. Notice that I didn’t write about this first, but rather, I saved it for later in the process. The reason for this is that price shouldn’t be the sole deciding factor for what company or freelancer you choose. Yes, money plays an important part in your decision, but you don’t want to have to pay less now and end up with a poor product and then pay more later for the product you were really hoping to buy in the first place. After you have gathered all the information from the previous steps, it’s time to ask the potential vendor(s) for a quote on your project. Remember, in order to receive an accurate quote, you’ll need to give the vendor the source docu-ment to review. This is common practice in the translation industry, and it is the best way to know the exact cost of the work you’re requesting.

Once you receive the quote from the vendor(s), it is up to you to decide if you feel the translation project is worth that amount. If so, there is little left to do. If not, don’t just walk away from the ven-dor’s price offer. Rather, let the vendor know that you were expecting a bit less or your reasons for not wanting to pay as much. I believe you’ll find most ven-dors to be game for some negotiation, but you should listen, too, to what the vendor has to say in regard to the rea-sons behind the original quote. Perhaps your document requires a certain set of specialized linguists to work on the proj-ect, and the terminology is such that it cannot be placed with just any translator and proofreader. Many times, this is the

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case for more focused areas. So, consider

the translation an investment, as it will

take multiple steps with highly skilled

individuals to complete the project and

ultimately give you the finished product

you desire.

As you take the quote into consid-

eration, find out about payment terms.

Will the vendor ask you to pay on NET

30 terms, pay the total beforehand or

pay half before and half after the trans-

lation is delivered? Not all vendors have

the same procedures, so it’s best not to

assume when payment will be due. If

you need the translation back in a very

short amount of time, be prepared to

have a rush fee tacked on.

Tip 9: Find out about other services

offered and how they might work for

you and your brand or purposes. As

you wrap up the translation process, with

any luck you’ll be thinking that you’ve

found your vendor of choice. Consider

other services the vendor might offer you

that would complement the translation

or future translation projects. Could the

vendor localize your website to make sure

the images and fonts, layout and other

characteristics market your brand as you

would like it to appear to your target

audience? Maybe you need to rethink the

images and layout used for the Spanish-

language pages of the site in order to

reach Latinos who might purchase your

products or services. Perhaps the vendor

offers voiceover services that would

allow you to put the promotional video

on your site into a second language.

Another service you might need is on-

site or telephonic interpretation. All of

these things and more should be on your

radar as you move forward into reaching

out to the target audience via your trans-

lated materials. Some buyers prefer to

consider this step earlier in the process,

as they are already thinking ahead to

how the translation might enhance their

own brand, while others are able to stop

at simply having their materials trans-

lated. To finalizing the process, consider

your research on how to obtain a high-

quality translation as time well spent. By

reading this, you have already taken the

first step to ensuring receipt of a valu-

able service. Much like the first-time car

buyer who finds a car that is reflective

of his or her personality, the translation

in which you invest should be a great

reflection of you and your brand in the

target language. M

Core Focus Showcase: Translation

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Your Company’s Spanish Language Division

Spanish Express, a US company based in Latin America, has been providing top quality translation and localization services from English into Spanish for over 18 years. Our staff consists of professional, experienced translators who reside in the country they linguistically represent (Mexico, Argentina, Spain and so on). Our areas of experience include software and hardware, web, medicine and health care, linguistic evaluation of prospective brand names, telecommunications and more. Our texts read as if they were originally crafted in Spanish, which is what makes us the #1 choice of many translation agencies and direct clients.

Spanish ExpressCórdoba, Argentina

crivarola@spanish-express.com www.spanish-express.com

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| MultiLingual April/May 2012 editor@multilingual.com56

Co

re F

ocu

s

IIt is a well-known, taken-for-granted rule that

for any translation to work properly, a translator has to go beyond the superficial meanings of the words.

It is not enough to work out how best to render the words of the source text; rather, it is much more important to extract what the words mean in a particular situation according to cultural context. The cultural facet of translation studies urges us to consider the point that the translator is not the only per-son involved in the translation process; rather, the readers also participate, utilizing what they already have in their cultural reservoir and what they have learned to make sense of what they read, connecting meanings and evaluating them with cul-tural codes that exist in their minds. Eugene Nida has noted that “language is a part of culture, and in fact, it is the most complex set of habits that any culture exhibits. Language reflects the culture, provides access to the culture, and in many respects constitutes a model of the culture.”

Recently, therefore, the need for treating translation from a wide range of perspectives has been recognized. The sig-nificance of sociological settings has been emphasized in recent translation studies, and rather than mere linguistics, insights from a number of scientific disciplines such as psychology, cul-tural anthropology and communication theory are proposed to help explain the nature of translation.

The cultural turn in translation studies has stimulated many translation studies researchers to elaborate upon adaptation as a form of intersemiotic translation. Adaptation is in fact the least literal or the most free type of translation. It abandons the strict linguistic aspect of translation and rather concerns itself with the cultural one, though it inevitably is concerned with the linguistics also. Adaptation is one of the most appropriate and effective modes of expression when a re-creation is needed to

Adaptation in translation

Mehdi Asadzadeh & Afaf Steiert

convey the same effect attached to a word to another culture where a same word is missing. Adaptation is usually employed to convey the equivalent in sociocultural terms.

To illustrate the point with an example, we refer to transla-tion of a text related to a wedding, originating from a British context and aimed at Azeri Turkish speakers. During a wedding ceremony in Britain or the United States, the groom is usu-ally accompanied by a man who is called the best man; that is part of their tradition and so a part of their culture. In Turkish culture, however, there is no best man, and the groom is rather accompanied by not one, but two men in the wedding. They are called sağdüş and soldüş and stand on the right and left sides of the groom respectively. So, when rendering a text where there is reference to a best man, anyone translating to Azeri Turk-ish speakers could possibly substitute it with the more familiar words sağdüş and soldüş.

We should note that though in certain situations the direct translation is not suggested much (when translating a politi-cal speech or an advertisement, for example), at the same time not all ideal translations are adaptations. A good translation is faithful to the full context of the source text in terms of mean-ing as well as style, appearance, register and message. Before choosing to adapt, a translator should understand that it is a must to produce a target text that seems natural and appropri-ate to the target language and culture while sticking to the essence of the source text; nothing may be altered, deleted or even added from and to the text unnecessarily and without an acceptable reason. A true adaptation is a reinvention that helps readers to better understand the text and its content.

Although it can happen anywhere, adaptation most often hap-pens in the literary realm. Poetry, for example, as a very personal form of literature, has its roots deep inside the culture, and because metaphors change from culture to culture, as do stylistic prefer-ences, its rendering will likely need more adaptation than other

kinds of texts. In general, the greater the differences between cultures, the bigger the obstacles in the path of translation. To overcome these, the translator might resort to adaptation. There is a basic rule to observe: adaptation is used when there is no chance of render-ing the concept correctly, precisely and appropriately by performing a usual type of translation. M

Mehdi Asadzadeh is a Ph.D. research student

at Hyderabad Central University, India,

and a lecturer at Maragheh Azad University.

Afaf Steiert is the president and

cofounder of Afaf Translations and works

as an Arabic interpreter and translator.

56 Steiert #127.indd 56 4/4/12 1:33 PM

T

April/May 2012 • www.multilingual.com

Core Focus: Translation

he ever-growing, easy international access to information, services and goods underscores the importance of language and cultural awareness. What issues are involved in reach-ing an international audience? Are there technologies to help? Who provides services in this area? Where do I start?

Savvy people in today’s world use MultiLingual to answer these questions and to help them discover what other questions they should be asking.

MultiLingual’s eight issues a year are filled with news, techni-cal developments and language information for people who are interested in the role of language, technology and translation in our twentyfirst century world. A ninth issue, the annual Resource Directory and Index, provides valuable resources — companies in the language industry who can help you go global. There is also a valuable index to the previous year’s magazine editorial content.

Two issues each year include a Core Focus such as this one, which are primers for moving into new territories both geo-graphically and professionally.

The magazine itself covers a multitude of topics including those below.

TranslationTranslators are vital to the development of international and

localized software. Those who specialize in technical documents, such as manuals for computer hardware and software, industrial equipment and medical products, use sophisticated tools along with professional expertise to translate complex text clearly and precisely. Translators and people who use translation services track new developments through articles and news items in MultiLingual.

LocalizationHow can you make your product look and feel as if it were

built in another culture for local users? Will the pictures and colors you select for a user interface in France be suitable for users in Brazil? How do you choose what markets to enter? What sort of sales effort is appropriate for those markets? How do you choose a localization service vendor? How do you man-age a localization project? Managers, developers and localizers offer their ideas and relate their experiences with practical advice that will save you time and money in your localization projects.

InternationalizationMaking content ready for the international market requires

more than just a good idea. How does an international developer prepare a product to be easily adaptable for multiple locales? You’ll find sound ideas and practical help in every issue.

Language technologyFrom systems that recognize your handwriting or your speech

in any language to automated translation on your phone — lan-

guage technology is changing day by day. And this technology is also changing the way in which people communicate on a personal level — affecting the requirements for international products and changing how business is done all over the world.

MultiLingual is your source for the best information and insight into these developments and how they affect you and your business.

Global webEvery website is a global website because it can be accessed

from anywhere in the world. Experienced web professionals explain how to create a site that works for users everywhere, how to attract those users to your site and how to keep the site current. Whether you use the internet for purchasing services, for promoting your business or for conducting fully international e-commerce, you’ll benefit from the information and ideas in each issue of MultiLingual.

Managing contentHow do you track all the words and the changes that occur

in your documents? How do you know who’s modifying your online content and in what language? How do you respond to customers and vendors in a prompt manner and in their own languages? The growing and changing field of content man-agement, customer relations management and other manage-ment disciplines is increasingly important as systems become more complex. Leaders in the development of these systems explain how they work and how they interface to control and streamline content management.

And there’s much moreAuthors with in-depth knowledge summarize changes in the

language industry and explain its financial side, describe the challenges of communicating in various languages and cul-tures, detail case histories that are instructional and applicable to your situation, and evaluate technology products and new books. Other articles focus on particular countries or regions; specific languages; translation and localization training pro-grams; the uses of language technology in specific industries — a wide array of current topics from the world of multilingual language, technology and business.

If you are interested in reaching an international audience in the best way possible, you need to subscribe to MultiLingual.

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